East Bay recycling center not headed for scrap heap after all

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, August 17, 1999

1999-08-17 04:00:00 PDT BERKELEY -- BERKELEY - Urban Ore, known to East Bay bargain-hunters and recycling experts around the world, has found a new home.

After operating out of a sprawling Gilman Street dirt lot near the Berkeley dump since 1983, the scavenger's paradise will most likely soon pick up its used doors, windows, toilets, sinks, washing machines and almost any other building material or household furnishing imaginable and move to a nearby site, said owner Dan Knapp. "We've found a suitable property on the market in Berkeley, and we are hoping to very soon sign a lease with an option to purchase in the future," Knapp said.

The property, which Knapp would not identify because he was afraid that it might be pursued by other buyers, is most likely in southwest Berkeley near Ashby Avenue and Interstate 80, just across town from the company's current home.

Urban Ore's combination of industrial and retail sales doesn't meet the zoning requirements of the new location, Knapp said, but a hearing is scheduled in September to review a new zoning category for reuse businesses. Most city officials expect it to pass.

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"We are carving out a niche for businesses that specifically divert material from the waste stream," said Deputy City Manager Phil Kamlarz. "The city has directed us to work with Urban Ore in order to keep them here, so the idea has a lot of support."

Knapp said cities needed to create reuse-recycling zoning in old industrial areas to reduce the amount of material going into landfills. If not, he said, rising property values and the reuse business's relatively low profit margins will price places like Urban Ore out of the market.

That's nearly what happened to Knapp earlier this summer. His Gilman Street landlord informed him that she wanted to sell the property and that he needed to move out by Oct. 1.

After scrambling to get help from public agencies and investors, Knapp made an offer to buy the $2.2 million property, but didn't hear back for nearly two months. Last Monday, he received a purchase order, but he had already begun negotiating for the new site.

In June, Berkeley city officials and residents worried that the recycling oasis - which diverts about 4,000 tons of discarded material from landfill every year, saves the city $14,000 in fees and employs 25 workers - would move to another city or close.

Urban Ore's demise would have also affected local contractors, who buy and sell used building material from the company's yard, and do-it-yourselfers, who depend on it for elusive odds and ends from past eras.

Following news of the possible move, the Berkeley City Council passed a resolution to help Urban Ore buy a permanent site. The city also pledged to expand its existing exclusive agreement with the recycler.

"We thought it was important to help them maintain their (landfill) diversion and hopefully help them grow," said board Director Tom Padia. "We consider them to be a regional resource serving Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond and the rest of the North Bay."

Padia said Urban Ore made a significant contribution to the county's ability to meet the state requirement to divert 50 percent of discarded materials from landfills by 2000. He said that while most cities in the county were at about 45 percent now, Alameda had set its own target of 75 percent by 2010.&lt;